Nerlens Noel, Kentucky center: He has the most defined NBA skill in this draft – a gift for blocking shots that averaged over four per game before he suffered that knee injury last winter. Noel likely wouldn’t be available before the middle of next season, but teams will still give him strong consideration in the top three. He’s not particularly skilled at the offensive end, and he needs more lower-body strength to hold up in the scrums under the basket at the NBA level. But as a rim-protector, he’s quite impressive.

Nerlens Noel will not be ready to start the season and is targeting a debut around Christmas, he said Thursday during the NBA combine. Noel said he is ahead of schedule in his recovery from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee and is expected to go No. 1 in the draft despite missing the first two months of the season.

“Ever since the surgery, everything is going great,” Noel said. “I’m 100 percent confident, not just getting back to what I was, but stronger. Going through this time not playing basketball, I’ll just be working on things I need to polish. It will improve me in the long run.”